967 (BAE Warton) Sqn ATC - History of the ATC

History of the Air Training Corps

Air Commodore, Sir John Adrian Chamier K.B., C.M.G., D.S.O., O.B.E., F.R.Ae.S., was born in 1883. He was educated at St. Paul's School and R.M.C. Sandhurst, and then served in the 33rd Punjabi Regiment of the Indian Army between 1904 and 1915. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in 1915, which later went on to become the Royal Air Force.

After leaving the R.A.F. John Chamier went on to become Secretary of the Air League of the British Empire. The object of the League was to promote "Air Mindedness" amongst the people, especially the youth of the country. They did not have government support, but nevertheless managed to do a magnificent job in interesting the public in all aspects of flying.

Sir John died in 1974.

In 1938, Air Commodore J A Chamier came up with a plan to form an Air Defence Cadet Corps (ADCC). The idea of this was so that, in desperate moments, men with only a few hours of training would not fly in the war. Instead, his idea was to train young men who had an interest in aviation, from all over the country. He planned to set up squadrons of young cadets in as many towns and cities as possible and ask locals to organise and run them.

Air Commodore Chamier's idea seemed to capture the British heart. In their eagerness to help the nation in getting ready for war, they joined up in their thousands. The cadets were asked to pay a small weekly subscription of 3d (old pennies), which is equivalent to 1p. Uniforms were issued free of charge.

Cadets were used for many jobs, like carrying messages, helping with clerical duties, providing extra muscle and helping move equipment. Towards the end of 1940 the government realised the true potential of the ADCC and agreed to take over control. This meant many changes and brought the birth of a completely new organisation, the Air Training Corps which was formally established in 1941. King George VI very kindly agreed to be Air Commodore-in-chief.

This produced an outstanding amount of people joining the Corps. Within the first month the size of the old ADCC had virtually doubled! The cadet badge was designed and approved by the king, and was published in 1941. The motto VENTURE ADVENTURE devised by Air Commodore Chamier was adopted by the ATC and incorporated into the badge.

Upon joining the ATC a cadet would have to take a test. This involved; Running 91.4 meters in 13 seconds, High jump 1.22m from a standing jump, Long jump 4.5m from a standing jump, Clear 1.3, with any style vault, Run 1 mile in 6 minutes and Walk 5 miles in 1hr 10 mins. These are not compulsory anymore but a cadet should aim for them.

In total, the ATC has nearly 1000 Squadrons divided into 36 Wings, split between 6 regions.